


And that's the truth

by Ephemera_pop (Alex_Draven)



Category: Popslash
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-02-19
Updated: 2005-02-19
Packaged: 2018-10-16 17:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10576239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alex_Draven/pseuds/Ephemera_pop
Summary: Crossed wires and song lyrics





	

A long time ago it had been a game they'd played when they were cooped up in the back of a van, or a shabby hotel room or on plane trips – carrying out whole conversations in lyrics. Half a point if you had to change the tense or subject, one point for a straight quote, two if it was the same band as the sentence you were replying to, and ten for challenges. That's ten points if you caught someone cheating, or ten to them if they could prove you wrong. For the longest time JC had kept a running score in the back of his diary, and Joey was always in the lead, and Justin always bitched when he was loosing. They hadn't played it for years, but the memory of it tugging at the back of his mind was the only reason Lance wasn't already on the phone to Chris to ask him what the hell he was taking.

The care packages were great – it wasn't like he wasn't used to being away from home, adjusting to new routines and all, but this was different, without the guys around either, and hard work. Good, but exhausting, mentally and physically, and coming back to his room to find a box full of bits and bobs designed to make him smile was a really good thing. The big thing was an afghan, soft and deep dark green. Seeing as he'd complained during the first couple of times he'd called everyone that his place was kind of bleak and a little cold that much made sense. The mix cd's and candy bars, and envelope full of weird ass clippings that covered everything from celebrity gossip to politics to sightings of Elvis and three-eyed mutant kittens, were typical Chris. There was small stack of postcards documenting Chris' wanderings, which was handy seeing as he didn't go into anything that mundane in the letter that was folded around the one fish two fish socks Chris had apparently spotted in an all night drugstore in Michigan. All of that stuff was good, made him feel less isolated and forgotten, and he put the cd in the player to test-drive it while he cooked dinner.

No, it was the antique stethoscope that had fallen out when he shook the afghan ready to spread it over the back of his sofa that had him confused. It might have been a mock up, but it felt old to him, heavy and solid, and the brass had a few rough patches where the polish couldn't reach into the nooks, and it was definitely a million miles from the sleek steel modern ones he was getting all too familiar with. It also had an old fashioned luggage label tied to it with a kitchen twisty on which Chris had carefully engraved 'I'm a doctor' in a hand far more elegant than his usual scrawl.

The next morning brought a fed ex box with a couple of dvd's he'd been expecting Chris to send on, along with the now-traditional copy of On The Line, and an entirely unexpected copy of 'Law School for Dummies'. There was a sticky note flagging up a page in chapter ten. Yellow highlighter picked out the words 'I' 'am' 'a' and 'lawyer'. Lance tapped the edge of the postcard Chris had stuck in with the package against his chin and tried to think. Method in Chris's madness, of course, and it was nagging at him that there was something he, Lance, wasn't getting.

It wasn't until he collapsed back onto his sofa that night, to tired to want to face the kitchen just yet, that Lance actually looked at the postcard that was set on top of the books. Ice blue neon against a wide desert sky. Babes Bar, nr. Shenandoah, according to the small print, and Chris's note was 'still think about it sometimes – maybe not this one though, huh?' Chris buying a bar. That had turned into a bit of a bittersweet joke, what with everyone out there chasing their individual ambitions, all knowing that Chris wasn't nearly as ok with things as he'd made out. The bar thing had been a way of diffusing that some, a movie-perfect happily ever after. So – wry joke, or another indication that really Chris was under the influence and maybe he should just give in and call?

Except …

Forty five minutes of diligent Googling finally got him where he needed to be. He'd been right thinking of lyrics.

I'm a doctor I'm a lawyer I'm a movie star  
I'm an astronaut And I own this bar

He definitely needed to phone Chris.

In hindsight _'I'm waiting for someone special'_ was a really dumb thing to blurt out the second his call was connected. Lance was kicking himself, and hard, as he re-dialed. Chris's silence and the tight controlled way he'd said 'right' made it totally clear that he'd said exactly the wrong thing, and damnit, Chris had switched his phone off already, so he was going to have to apologise to voicemail.

"Chris? - Fuck. That's – that's not really what I *meant*, you idiot – you should have let me finish. Please? Switch your phone back on and call me back, ok? Look – um. You don't have to lie, 'cos… shit – I can't do this like this. Call me?"

**Author's Note:**

> I'd lie to you for your love - singer unknown.
> 
> I watched you walk into the room  
> I wanna say this just right  
> If you ain't waiting for somebody special  
> Would you be with me tonight  
> I'm a doctor I'm a lawyer I'm a movie star  
> I'm an astronaut And I own this bar
> 
> And I would lie to you for your love  
> Yes I'd lie to you for your love  
> I'd lie to you for your love  
> And that's the truth
> 
> I could tell you what you wanna hear  
> And some secrets about myself  
> I could tell you you're the only one  
> And there could never be nobody else  
> I'm a doctor I'm a lawyer I'm a movie star  
> I'm an astronaut And I own this bar
> 
> And I would lie to you for your love  
> Yes I'd lie to you for your love  
> I'd lie to you for your love  
> And that's the truth.


End file.
